Together We're Invincible
by Peachdreamsandperseus
Summary: "Oh, my darling girl, I can't give you what her father gave her. I can't give you castles and diamonds, but what I can give you is all the love in the world..." MAJOR SPOILERS FOR 3x05 - DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT.


_**I'm not even going to give you one of my traditional, long winded introductions this time - It just hurts so much and this is the only way I can deal with things right now.**_

* * *

"_Do it on your own  
It makes no difference to me  
What you leave behind  
What you choose to be  
And whatever they say  
Your soul's unbreakable_."

**_Invincible – Muse_**

Sleeping.

That's it... that's all.

She's asleep.

He holds onto her hand – so cold and pale. This hand has been his very lifeline these past seven years. Whether by friendly gesture, the line of duty or the caress of a lover so much has been conveyed by these two hands. These are the hands that first touched so intimately at a garden party in the summer of nineteen-fourteen and the day the world as they knew it changed forever, the hands which sealed their vows as husband and wife as he slid the thin gold band onto her finger. These are the hands that, barely a few hours ago, cradled their baby girl between them.

Happiness, it seems, comes at a price and Lady Sybil Branson has just paid the ultimate one.

Smiling tenderly, Tom brushes a fallen strand of hair from his wife's face – he remembers the day he came home from work early and she was sitting on one of the chairs in their kitchen, his sister Órlaith standing behind her with a pair of scissors in hand and a magazine on the table beside her. He hadn't been sure of her bold new look at first (having loved nothing more than the sight of her long ebony curls wrapped around his fingers, fanned out across the pillow or cascading down her back as they made love), but then he'd seen how happy and confident she was and he adored it – it was so wonderfully **her** and a testament to just how much of a free spirit she was. He remembers the first morning she woke up beside him after their wedding – she'd stared up at him with dreamy eyes and a contented smile as she'd stretched out her limbs in an attempt to alleviate some of the aches induced by some of the previous night's activities. She'd kissed him, softly and lovingly at first but soon became one of burning passion and she'd rolled on top of him, taking him completely by surprise as she'd showed him just how much she loved him.

...They very nearly missed seeing her sisters off back to England.

He's never loved another woman before – he thought he had, but it had just been a childhood fancy. Lust more than anything, probably. This was different though – **she** was different – and he'd known from that very first time he'd seen her face that there was something special about her. They waited so long to find the perfect moment to be together and in just a few short moments it had all come crashing down around them.

"_Sometimes a hard sacrifice must be made for a future that's worth having._"

This wasn't what he had meant – not at all, not for a single second – but as a tiny whimper from behind him alerts him to his daughter's presence, he knows that there is still a tiny bit of truth in those words.

"I'll be back in a minute, love," he whispers, placing a gentle kiss to her fingertips. "I promise."

Reluctantly, Tom let's go of her hand and takes the few short steps towards the bassinet by the window. The baby wriggles as she tries to break free from her blankets and the ghost of a smile graces Tom's lips.

"You're like her already, aren't you?" he says as he picks her up and holds her close to his chest. "Just a few hours old and trying to break free."

A tiny hand pops up from under the blanket, reaching for him.

Her lifeline.

Taking another deep, shuddering breath, he holds out a finger which she gladly takes – she's so tiny and warm – and sits down in the chair by the fire.

"You look like her as well... beautiful, so beautiful. You have my eyes though... a true Branson. Oh, my darling girl, I can't give you what her father gave her. I can't give you castles and diamonds, but what I can give you is all the love in the world... I'm so sorry that your mam won't be here to give it to you too, but I'll try my best to give you her love too." He chokes back a sob as his eyes flick over to his sleeping wife. "You must never, **ever** think that any of this was your fault... I'm going to tell you all about her, every single day. I'm sure you'll laugh when you hear some of the things we used to get up too. You stay with me, sweetheart, and this place won't know what hit it. We're a team now, we have to be... and we'll go home one day. We'll go home and I'll show you Ireland... you'll love it. Maybe we could go to the country and live on a farm like the one I used to spend the summers at when I was little. I'll teach you to ride horses on the beach near Dun Laoghaire and we'll go fishing in the lake like I did with my Da. I say all this now, maybe it will happen and maybe it won't... but whatever we do, we'll do it together and..." the tears are falling thick and fast now and there's no point in being strong anymore. "We'll be happy... because she'd want that. Your mam was the happiest person I've ever known. It's going to be hard, and if I know anything about fathers and daughters and if you're as much like her as I think you are, then we're going to have our differences. We're not always going to see eye to eye on things but, whatever you do I will love you and cherish you forever, just as I will her."

The baby tightens her grip on his finger and murmurs appreciatively, looking up at him for a moment with her big blue eyes almost as if she understands. With a yawn, her little eyelids flutter closed and she curls her tiny body into him. Prising his finger away from her hand, he runs it across the softness of her cheek and presses a tender kiss to her head before setting her back down in her basket and returning to his wife's bedside once more. Taking hold of her hand again, he twines his fingers though hers, just as he had done on that sunny afternoon when they were just a Lady and the chauffeur, his heart breaking just that little bit more when she doesn't respond.

"Sleep well, my angel," he whispers, his accent thick with both exhaustion and grief. "Lie back and look at the stars... this isn't the end for us. I'll find you again someday."

__ Yes, he has only ever loved one woman in his life and he'll never love another – at least not for many, many years until the sleeping baby girl that owns his heart grows up.


End file.
